We have a very accurate answer to what you're seeking this Friday night in the Bushwick hood. Exactly eight new art shows art opening this Friday night, including an inaugural exhibition inside the newly located Black and White Gallery and another pop-up show at Galerie Manqué (both inside 56 Bogart). Plus a cool artist/performer mash-up inside IMAGE Gallery and an ongoing story telling piece going on at Studio 10 through the first week of April.

Through subtly paradoxical subject matter "Refraction Index" puts visual simplicity at odds with the complex nuances of the natural and psychological landscape. In Sophie Barbasch’s photographs her simple subjects, like crystallized cobwebs of a broken windshield, a sweater floating in open water, are at odds with their own poignancy. Mark Dorf juxtaposes virtual artifacts with depictions of the natural landscape, showcasing his concern with our dependence on technology when interacting with our surroundings. Street lamps in rural Thailand appear both foreign and familiar in Chris Mottalini’s photographs, and John Murphy uses pinhole photographs to affectionately capture the male form while referencing the “fog of masculinity."

For its second pop-up show inside 56 Bogart, Galerie Manqué presents "Radical Cartography," an installation of about 300 sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper that depict a microscopically-detailed aerial view of an imaginary city: Pencilvania. The city is mapped out as if the viewer is flying over the highways, bridges, skyscrapers, museums, gardens, rivers, etc. The total dimensions of artist Daren Keene’s imaginary metropolis currently exceed what can fit inside the gallery space, and he plans for it to eventually be the length of a city block.

Robert Strati "Spiral Notations" (Image courtesy of Robert Henry Contemporary)

Explore unseen realities in Robert Strati's "Layers," an exhibition of new 3D compositions. These fanciful and sometimes whimsical compositions reveal aspects of our reality that are unseen, but experienced, with influences of mystical minimalism and the use of ubiquitous materials like clear packing tape and steel wire. Layers of transparent panels lead the viewer to peer deeper into the piece, allowing for multi-layered observations that facilitate seeing beyond what is in front of their eyes.

In a collection of works recalling the ruins of an imaginary dynasty, artist Peter Daverington places us in the realm of a ancient art and artifacts. In "Lacuna" the artist ignites a sense of loss by removing fragments of his sculptural works and paintings, revealing the raw materials of the canvas or plaster. Set in various states of decay, the works oscillate between artifact and artifice, integrating various historic periods, from Hellenistic art to Modernism, into byproducts of illusions.

Using the oldest and simplest of story telling tools, Tim Spelios and Matt Freedman will embark on an ongoing installation at Studio 10, with stories drawn onsite by Freedman and communicated through rhythm and drum sounds by Spelios. There will be eight performances throughout March and early April; every Friday at 8pm and Sunday at 5pm. The drums will cross-function as active sculptures, while Freedman's drawings will collect and gradually fill the gallery space as a culmination of the entire story telling process.

Former Williamsburg venue Black & White Gallery / Project Space opened in Bushwick earlier this month, and is holding their inaugural opening on Friday, March 13th with a selection of works by Henry Khudyakov. The exhibition will include paintings, assemblages, mixed media, literary works and poetry recitals, shedding light on Khudyakov’s artistic evolution.

Working in traditional Shaker furniture forms, Stephen Eakin takes liberties with the fundamentals of contemporary furniture creation, all along keeping a nod to the deep investment in the labor of object making. "Permanent Collection" showcases Eakin's deep investment and understanding of how we relate to contemporary objects. "Filling Station" will accompany the exhibition in the project space, featuring work by Jason Reyen.